


Frozen

by Foxstress



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Baby Dwarves, Baby Names, Family, Ficlet, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-20
Updated: 2014-10-20
Packaged: 2018-02-21 22:15:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2484245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxstress/pseuds/Foxstress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thorin is not so sure about this new arrival. And how do you find a name for something that just sleeps, eats and cries?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Frozen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SilverFountains](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverFountains/gifts).



> This is a gift for amazing LadyLuna for participating my 69 followers party. She wished for something cute with young Thorin and Frerin. Sorry it took forever, sweetie!

”I don’t understand,” Thorin said.

His childish face was so serious and confused that his mother wanted to laugh. “It’s very simple, really, my darling. I have a new babe growing in my belly, and it shall become your new brother or sister. You have seen babes before, have you not?”

But Thorin kept wrinkling his forehead. “But Mother… Am I not good enough for you?”

Mother let out a surprised huff of laughter at that. “Oh Thorin, why would you ask that?”

Thorin looked a little embarassed but stubborn at the same time. “Well, if you want a new child, I thought maybe it’s because I’ve done something wrong?”

Mother didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she kneeled in front of her son and hugged him very tightly. “My dearest, that is not why people have children. You have done nothing wrong, trust me. Your Father and I wish to have another child so that we can give out more love; it doesn’t mean that we would love you any less. And you’re going to be so happy to have a sibling, you’ll see.”

Thorin hugged her back, his fears lessened but with a tiny bit of doubt in his mind.

*

Thorin tilted his head as he watched the new babe. A tiny, red, grumbled-looking thing it was. Had he looked like that as a newborn as well? It was hard to imagine.

“What do you think of your baby brother?” Mother asked, looking very tired but smiling.

“He doesn’t look like he does much of anything,” Thorin answered honestly. “What’s his name?”

“We haven’t decided yet,” Father piped up. “We were hoping you might help us decide.”

That surprised Thorin, and he felt proud and nervous at the same time. Names were important, and it would be a great honour to help pick one for the babe. What if he couldn’t come up with anything good?

“You have that expression on your face again, dearest,” Mother told him. “You’re worrying about something. Please relax, it’s going to be just fine.”

*

It was the middle of winter, and it was unusually cold. Since Mother was fussing endlessly around the baby and Father was busy with his princely duties as always, Thorin spent a lot of his time sneaking out of the mountain and playing outside in the snow by himself. He enjoyed the snow, its calm, cool beauty.

Most dwarves only had eyes for the fires of the forge, which were their livelihood, and Thorin appreciated those as well, but the proximity of the forge made him think of the burden on his young shoulders – the heavy burden of princehood, of which his father and grandfather reminded him every day, stressing the enormous responsibility that he carried. The fire seemed to burn and sweat him on the outside the same way that this responsibility tore him on the inside.

So the snow and solitude made him feel easier. He felt more like a normal child with no particular worries, when he build little snow trolls and forts in the outskirts of the forest. He often stayed outside until it was dark and the moon and stars were glowing their light down to him. Mother would chide him for making her worry, but they both knew he would manage and she didn’t worry that much. She was too busy with the baby – who still didn’t have a name.

His parents had discussed some names, but none of them seemed quite right. Thorin had had no suggestions yet. His tiny brother didn’t seem to have any particular personality traits so far; he just cried, and slept, and ate. What do you call someone when you don’t know anything about them?

“How did you decide my name?” Thorin asked Mother once, after yet another fruitless discussion about baby names.

Mother chuckled. “Your name came to us very easily, darling. The very first time your father took you in his arms, you grabbed his beard with both hands and pulled so hard he swore some of it came off. You were bold from the very beginning, and that’s why we gave you a name that means ‘brave’.”

Thorin smirked at that, but then turned serious again. “I wonder why it’s so hard to find a name for him,” he said, looking at the babe who was snoring quietly in Mother’s arms.

“Sometimes it just takes longer. But don’t worry, Mahal will guide us and help us find a name.” Mother looked very trusting, but Thorin had his doubts.

*

A few days later, Thorin was sitting on a snowy rock near the entrance to Erebor. The sky was getting dark and he knew he should go home soon but he wanted to stay here for a moment more, just watching the stars appearing, thinking about nothing in particular, enjoying the snowy silence around him. Finally he sighed and jumped down from his spot, but something caught his eye. A bright glint of light coming from the snow nearby.

Thorin went to see and found that the glint was the reflection of starlight caught by an icicle. It was a beautiful thing, probably fallen from the large pine tree above. It had an unusual swirled shape and the ice was flawlessly smooth. Thorin was entranced by the icicle and felt the sudden urge to show it to Mother – surely she would appreciate its beauty.

He hurried back inside and home, holding the icicle gingerly in his glove-covered hands. “Mother?” he called quietly from the door and went to find her. He stopped when he reached the sitting room – Mother was sitting in an armchair by the fire, asleep. The cot of the baby was by her side, and she had clearly fallen asleep while putting the baby down for the night.

She looked so peaceful, Thorin didn’t want to wake her up. He was a little disappointed and was just about to take the icicle back outside before it melted, when a telltale little mewl came from the cot. Thorin walked to it and found two bright blue eyes staring back at him, wide awake. He sighed; he was no babysitter.

“Go to sleep, little brother. Mother needs to rest and I have nothing for you, unless you like icicles.” He lifted the icicle up for the babe to see as he spoke, and to his surprise, the tiny creature smiled and cooed happily when he saw the object. Thorin hesitated a bit, but lowered the icicle so the baby could touch it with his plump little hands. Contrary to what he would have thought, his little brother did not shy away from the cold but grabbed the icicle and stared at it with wide eyes, giggling.

Thorin couldn’t help but laugh too. “You’re a strange one, aren’t you? An ice baby.” And then it struck him, a bright inspiration, and he stared the babe with incredulous eyes, a smile widening on his face. He reached for his brother and lifted him gently from the cot. The babe, still holding the melting icicle that left his shirt wet, seemed perfectly content in his arms. “Frerin,” Thorin whispered proudly. “Your name is Frerin, baby brother.”

**Author's Note:**

> I originally thought that Frerin's name means "brother" (maybe thinking too much French there), but tolkiengateway.net taught me that it's actually thought to come from the old norse for "frozen" - frérinn. So that was cool and I wanted to do something with that. And I also really like the idea of Thorin being this really serious kid who worries about everything, because it's simultaneously funny and sad - I think that Thrain and Thror would have been very strict with his upbringing from a very young age and he's just very pressured from all the responsibility, but his siblings would have been like a fresh breath of air in his life, and they would help him feel more normal.
> 
> This story can be read as a part of the same universe as my stories "Fae" and "Mother's Heart", and this one would be the first in chronological order.
> 
> (By the way, Dis' name most likely just means "sister", so that's a little less imaginative, but it would actually fit really well with the sad mood in "Fae", which is about Dis' birth.)


End file.
